OV: Optics & Vision

Question 1

Transparent

Answer 1

Describes materials that allow light to pass through with little or no reflection allowing you to easily see through the material; for example glass (Pg. 93)

Question 2

Opaque

Answer 2

Describes materials that do not allow light to pass through; for example, wood, metal, cardboard, etc (Pg. 92)

Question 3

Reflection

Answer 3

Is the changing of direction of light as it hits an opaque material.

Question 4

Umbra

Answer 4

The fully shaded region of a shadow (Pg. 93)

Question 5

Penumbra

Answer 5

The partially shaded region of a shadow, formed by some light passing an opaque object (Pg. 93)

Question 6

Specular Reflection

Answer 6

Reflection off smooth surfaces (Pg. 103)

Question 7

Diffuse Reflection

Answer 7

Reflection of light off an uneven surface, which results in light scattering in many directions (Pg. 103)

Question 8

Real Image

Answer 8

An image that appears on the same side of a concave mirror as the object; light rays pass through the object location and the image can be projected on to a screen (Pg. 108)

Question 9

Virtual Image

Answer 9

An image that appears to be on the other side of a plane mirror; light rays do not pass through the image location (Pg. 108)

Question 10

Incident Ray

Answer 10

Ray of light that arrives at a mirror or enters a substance (Pg. 102)

Question 11

Refraction

Answer 11

Change in direction of light as it travels from one material to another (Pg. 112)

Question 12

Concave Mirror

Answer 12

Reflecting surface that is curved inward like the inside of a bowl or spoon; light rays reflected from it converge or come together (Pg. 107)

Question 13

Concave Lens

Answer 13

Piece of transparent material that is thinner in the middle than at the edges; it diverges or spreads out light rays passing through it (Pg. 121)

Question 14

Convex Lens

Answer 14

Piece of transparent material that is thicker in the middle that at the edges; it converges, or brings together, light rays passing through it (Pg. 121)

Question 15

Convex Mirror

Answer 15

Outwardly-curved reflecting surface that bulges out like the back of a spoon; light rays reflected from it diverge or spread out (Pg. 107)

Question 16

Visible Light Spectrum

Answer 16

Colours of visible light which can be seen by the eye; the colours seen in a rainbow or when light is split by a prism (Pg. 139)

Question 17

Electromagnetic Radiation

Answer 17

All forms of radiated energy: visible light, infrared radiation, ultraviolet radiation, radio waves, X-rays, etc (Pg. 150)

Question 18

Wavelength

Answer 18

Distance between the top or peak of one wave to the peak of the next (Pg. 151)

Question 19

Ray

Answer 19

A directed straight line that represents the path followed by light (Pg. 93)

Question 20

Illuminance

Answer 20

The amount of light arriving at one place per unit area (Pg. 96)

Question 21

Lens

Answer 21

Piece of glass or another transparent material that either brings together or spreads light rays passing through it; has two opposite surfaces, either both curved or one plane and one curved (Pg. 119)

Question 22

Retina

Answer 22

Special lining on the back of your eye; when light hits the retina, receptor cells send messages to the brain, which are translated into an image (Pg. 126)

Question 23

Aperture

Answer 23

Hole or opening that lets light in a camera (Pg. 125)

Question 24

Diaphragm

Answer 24

Part that changes the size of the aperture of camera’s lens; it varies the amount of light that reaches the film or photosensitive elements (Pg. 126)

Question 25

Pupil

Answer 25

Opening in the eye that lets light in (Pg. 125)

Question 26

CCD Matrix

Answer 26

A combination of Charged Coupled Device cells in a camera which has a similar function to the retina in the eye (Pg 126)

Question 27

Iris

Answer 27

Band of muscle in your eye that controls the size of the pupil and the amount of light entering your eye (Pg. 125)

Question 28

Addition Model of Colour

Answer 28

Theory that explains what happens when coloured lights are mixed together to produce colours (Pg. 143)

Question 29

Subtraction Model of Colour

Answer 29

Theory that explains what happens when coloured pigments (paints) are mixed together; each primary colour of pigment absorbs, or subtracts, a primary colour of light and reflects the other two (Pg. 146)

Question 30

Amplitude

Answer 30

Height of the wave from its middle rest position to its highest point (Pg. 151)

Question 31

Frequency

Answer 31

Number of times a wave source or medium vibrates in a given unit of time (Pg. 151)

Question 32

Bioluminescence

Answer 32

Light emitted from a living organism as a result of naturally occurring chemical reactions inside the organism (Pg. 161)

Question 33

Chemiluminescence

Answer 33

The production of light through a chemical reaction (Pg. 161)

Question 34

Phosphorescence

Answer 34

A glow caused by the absorption and then release of stored light (Pg. 162)

Question 35

Organic Light-emitting Diode (OLED)

Answer 35

A source of electroluminescence in which the light-emitting layer is an organic compound (Pg. 162)

Question 36

Electroluminescence

Answer 36

The emission of light as a result of an electric current being passed through a material (Pg. 162)

Question 37

Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL)

Answer 37

Source of artificial light; an opaque tube coated on the inside with a fluorescent material; uses ultraviolet light waves to make the fluorescent coating produce light (Pg. 163)

Question 38

Light-emitting Diode (LED)

Answer 38

Source of artificial light where light is produced by passing electricity through a semiconductor material (Pg. 163)

Question 39

Ray Diagram

Answer 39

Diagram used to represent how light travels; each ray has an arrow to shoe the direction of travel (Pg. 93)

Question 40

Shadow

Answer 40

Area of reduced light created whenever an opaque object blocks the path of light (Pg. 33)

Question 41

Law of Reflection

Answer 41

Angle of incidence of a wave hitting a surface equals the angle of reflection (Pg. 102)

Question 42

Focal Point

Answer 42

The point at which the light rays forming an image come together in focus (Pg. 127)

Question 43

Primary Colours of Light

Answer 43

Red, green, and blue light; adding these colours of light produces white light (Pg. 143)

Question 44

Normal (in math/science)

Answer 44

90 degrees to the base

Question 45

Rods

Answer 45

specialized eye cells that process shades of black & white

Question 46

Cones

Answer 46

specialiced eye cells that process color